Boxing training: Greatness is part mystery

What makes a boxing trainer great? What did Cus D'Amato, Angelo Dundee, Emanuel Steward, Eddie Futch, and Ray Arcel know that you don't?

If you're stumped, don't feel bad; these are trick questions. Not because there aren't answers, but because there are a million answers. I got talking about it with Andy Schott, Associate Professor of Psychology at Hudson Valley Community College. Wait, so he can talk about Freud's structural theory of personality, what does that have to do with teaching young warriors to punch at angles and slip incoming fire? Here's what else you need to know about Andy:

Together with Kyle Provenzano, he runs Schott's Boxing in Albany. Sitting down with him, it's easy to forget he was one of the best middleweights to ever come out of this area. Andy's a humble guy so you'll never hear him say that. "I was pretty good, but not that good." Right. Schott was an alternate on the 1980 U.S. Olympic Team. After compiling a 114 - 14 amateur record including a victory over Iran Barkley, earning a #1 ranking in the country and a spot on the U.S. National Team, he turned pro.

Then came seven straight wins that included five knockouts. But fight #8 brought a bend in the road. "I got hit with a funky shot and broke my jaw. While it was healing I enrolled at SUNY-New Paltz." So began a new journey.

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But I digress. Just know that Andy Schott is the right guy to field the hard question.

"Fighters often make the trainer. So many great trainers remain unknown simply because of circumstance. Cus D'Amato had Jose Torres and Kevin Rooney, but along came Tyson and pow. He was the perfect fighter for that style of boxing," Schott said, referring to D'Amato's "peek-a-boo" technique. Only after Tyson did D'Amato's name become practically a synonym for training greatness. "It doesn't hurt when the right kid walks into the gym."

"And not everybody signs with Don King or other huge names; Marvin Hagler didn't," he said, referring to the fact that the Marvelous One chose to stay in Brockton, MA, with the Petronelli brothers, who would have otherwise remained unknown to all but diehard boxing fans. "Same with Kelly Pavlik who hung around his home gym and slept on his parent's couch." So was it Pavlik's talent or Jack Loew's training that made him a champion? It's a difficult question.

"Somebody once asked Freddie Roach what would have happened had he been training Cotto instead of Pacquiao," when the two met in November 2009 and Pacquiao won by TKO. "Roach said Pacquiao would have won anyway because he was the better fighter. I respect him for his honesty," said Schott. "Roach is a great trainer, but fighters can make the trainer. The difference is a great trainer can take a not-so-great fighter and win with him."

So what is the path to training greatness? "When it comes to boxing, paths are like fingerprints," Schott said. "All are unique and suited to the circumstance." But there are some commonalities.

"First, there's what's called for in the early stages of a fighter's development: teaching fundamentals and technique. Naturally, there's more consistency among trainers there. The ability to do it is a given." But after that, the greats begin to pull away.

"Experience." It's the sine qua non of greatness in anything, so there's no surprise that it applies here, too. "Knowing when to tell your fighter to control the center of the ring, or to come in behind the jab, can turn what had been a war into an easy win."

"Also, the mistakes you've made in the corner over the years can be as vivid as your successes. Sending your fighter out to be aggressive in the last round sounds like good advice, but it can also get him dropped."

"Nobody was more aggressive than Pacquiao against Marquez," he said, of their fateful encounter last December. It resulted in Pacquiao suffering one of the worst knockouts many fans have ever witnessed. "And, like I said, Roach is great. But he'll remember that mistake."

"It's not a perfect science." What a great trainer does is to rely on years of experience, with of all the successes and mistakes and, in an instant, cull from them the right decision at the right time, in the nanosecond provided. Does this sound hard? It's why training greatness is part mystery, as greatness is in anything.

"It also involves knowing your fighter," said Schott. "Andy's an easy going guy," said Provenzano, "but I've seen him rip into a fighter between rounds, not out of anger, but because he knew the fighter needed it. Then he'll be gentle the next time." I remember having the good fortune to talk with Angelo Dundee a few years ago. He said he knew Ali well enough to stay out of his way sometimes. "I knew training," he said, "but Muhammad was more intuitive than me. I learned to trust that."

"And there's commitment." It's got to be there, and it's measured in ways beyond hours spent in the gym. "It's about a high degree of focus while you're in there," said Schott. "The not-so-greats can put weeks together, but not months; the greats do it for years."

Do you still wonder what makes a great boxing trainer? So do I. Like I said, it's a trick question.